Friday, September 17, 2010

Vocabulary Cartoons: a review and a give away

Vocabulary Cartoons SAT Word Power
Learn Hundreds of SAT Words with Easy Memory Techniques


When my copy of Vocabulary Cartoons SAT Word Power came in the mail, I suspected trouble. Why? I already owned an older version of it and it was still summer break. My older copy had sat dormant in my sunroom for a while. When you live five minutes from the beach, you rarely do 'school' in the summer. These two strikes could make for a difficult review. Thankfully, I was wrong. This book is not very 'schoolish'.

What is it?

Vocabulary Cartoons is over 300 pages of funny cartoons to aid your student in learning words that frequently appear on the SAT Tests. This book is published by New Monic Books, Inc.  The words are arranged alphabetically and after every ten words there is a quiz. This is the first book in the series and costs $12.95. There is a second SAT Word Power book which I am coveting and resources for younger children available at their web site:

My Thoughts

I am not in favor of teaching to the test, but usually prefer learning vocabulary naturally in the context of a great book. This little book makes learning vocabulary fun. Each new word is accompanied by a funny cartoon with some word play in it. This was right up our alley. I am sure Charlotte Mason would have appreciated the gentle short lessons of this book.

I just learned a new word, irascible, which I will try my hardest not to be.

You can view more samples of Vocabulary Cartoons here.

My sons' thoughts

Random, who masters the quizzes easily, likes it. He surprisingly informed me he has never liked vocabulary. I take this as a high compliment for Vocabulary Cartoons.

Paperboy's first experience with Vocabulary Cartoons shocked me. I assigned him a chapter from the middle of the book. He took it into his lair and returned quickly.
He handed me the book and said: "I love it, let's keep it."
"Did you even read it?"
"Yes, of course I did."
I assigned him the quiz. I realized, he read it, but not so carefully. I decided it was important to handle the words daily in little doses. Hence my schedule below:

How I am using Vocabulary Cartoons in our home school this year with my 8th and 9th grader:
  • On Monday, I orally quiz them on the words in the chapter, just to see if they already are familiar with them. At times, they surprised me and knew a few. They read the first chapter through once.
  • On Tuesday, they reread the chapter, focusing on the example sentences. I want them to understand the words in the context of how they are used.
  • On Wednesday, I orally quiz them on all of the words.
  • On Thursday, I give them the quiz in the book. I photocopy it. If they score 100%, they are done for the week.
  • On Friday, they fix their quizzes, if needed. The quiz consists of 20 questions matching the definitions and filling in the correct vocabulary word.
Although the quiz is fill in the blank, it does require some extra effort. The student must change the tense of the verbs to agree with the sentences. The boys are learning to handle the words and memorize the definitions.

More of my thoughts

Vocabulary Cartoons fit in with my children's learning styles. The visual, a great cartoon, evokes giggles. The words are in alphabetical order. This is the one thing that confused my children. When they were introduced to 7 words that have the same 2 or three letters, they mixed up a few of the words.  This program takes 10 minutes a day at the most. If your child is nearing SAT time, you could surely assign 40 words a week and finish the books in 5 weeks before moving on to book 2. Our method works nicely with our workbox system as it is one of their lighter assignments.


If you already have vocabulary in your curriculum, I would still encourage you to purchase this book. Leave Vocabulary Cartoons in the back of your car, in the bathroom(eew) or on the coffee table. All ages will appreciate these cartoons.


You can see what others are saying about Vocabulary Cartoons here.


How you can use Vocabulary Cartoons in your home school, maybe:


Because I already owned this book, I need your help. Help me not to hoard books. My  friend, who shall remain nameless, is slowly weeding out her vast collection of home school books. I was the benefactor of her kindness a few years back. Now I have an extra copy to give away to one lucky reader.


Rules, Rules, Rules.


Mandatory Entry:
To win this book, you must leave a comment using my new word irascible correctly in a sentence.


Extra Entries:
Tweet or share this on Facebook and leave me a comment for each one you are doing.

Another Extra Entry: Boost my self esteem, follow me or let me know you already do.

Make sure I can contact you through your blogger ID or leave your email in the comments.

I will pick one lucky winner on September 24th. If you don't win or have time to enter contests, head over to New Monics, Inc and see these great books yourself.


I received a complimentary copy of this book as a participant in the 2010-2011 TOS review crew. The opinions are my own and of course my children's. 

This give away is closed, congratulations to the winner! She has received her book and loves it!


I welcome reader comments with open arms. I also understand if you aren't the commenting or hugging type of person, you can drop me an email at accidentallyhomeschooling@gmail.com.

25 comments:

viktoria said...

I am following you!!! Love the new colors!!

viktoria said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amanda said...

Thank you so much Terri. As soon as I finished reading I went and ordered the elementary version, I know this is just the thing for Sam. (I will save the fancy new word for later, as I don't need to hoard books either.) Thanks for something so fun!

Unknown said...

His consumption of alcohol often causes him to exhibit irascible behavior.


This book sounds like a fun way to learn vocabulary. I would love to win a copy, but if I were you I would keep both copies since you have two students. ~ Shirl, The Book Hoarder : ))

Unknown said...

You know I follow your blog, and I learn sooo much in doing so!!

Unknown said...

I will tweet about this, for sure!

Unknown said...

I have shared this on Face book. I'll let you know if there is a noticeable increase in my friends' vocabularies! : )

TerriG said...

I will become extremely irascible if I do not win this book. Knowing how much my grandkids love a good cartoon and how my kids were raised on them and draw them them-
selves. Plus all of my extremely long life I have always loved vocabulary!
Love Ya
Jan

TerriG said...

I will become extremely irascible if I do not win this book. Knowing how much my grandkids love a good cartoon and how my kids were raised on them and draw them them-
selves. Plus all of my extremely long life I have always loved vocabulary!
Love Ya
Jan

Anonymous said...

I became irascible at the thought of not winning this cool book!

What a fun giveaway!

Sue
The Homeschool Chick

Anonymous said...

I tweeted for ya! (via @HomeschoolSue)

The Homeschool Chick

Anonymous said...

I already am a Google Friend Connect follower! :)

Sue
The Homeschool Chick

Kimarie said...

When my boys were younger, they were irascible whenever a Lego structure fell apart.

This would be a great supplement to our homeschool - and we LOVE cartoons and humor, especially when there's a purpose.

cardamomspod AT gmail DOT com

Kimarie said...

I tweeted the giveaway!

Kimarie said...

I shared in on FB too!

Anonymous said...

I'd like to win your giveaway, otherwise I might feel irascible. :^/
sweethappymom AT gmail DOT com

Yes, I see the irony. ;)

Anonymous said...

I posted it on FB! :D

Anonymous said...

I tweeted!

Anonymous said...

And I'm following you!

Anonymous said...

AND I put your button on my blog. Can I get another extra entry for that? (jk) (a little) ;)

TerriG said...

Yeah Jenny: It's my blog and I can make the rules and break them. Consider this your entry.
Thanks, comment #21
I wish you the best.

TerriG said...

Dear Terri,

I am feeling irascible because I could not get my comment to post on your blog, and my comment was that I was feeling irascible because I had a small homeschool buget this year, therefore, I was hoping to win your drawing!! Do I get double points for using it twice :)

Monica

TerriG said...

Dear Terri,

I am feeling irascible because I could not get my comment to post on your blog, and my comment was that I was feeling irascible because I had a small homeschool buget this year, therefore, I was hoping to win your drawing!! Do I get double points for using it twice :)

Monica

Lizzie said...

I don't need the book but I wanted to post even on a review page because I love you. :)

Laurie said...

As I have gotten very little sleep lately, my children say that I am irascible. Does that work? :)

I too am purging old school books, but this looks like something my kids would love.

mom7_06 (at) yahoo (dot) com